ARSENE WENGER hailed his side’s killer instinct after a 2-1 FA Cup win over Liverpool gave them the perfect platform to go into a Champions League shootout against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

DELIGHTED: Wenger feels his side made up for their recent drubbing at Anfield [GETTY]

Goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski were enough to gain revenge for the 5-1 defeat at Anfield eight days earlier – although Liverpool should have had a second penalty after Steven Gerrard had already pulled them back into the game from the spot.

Wenger claimed the changes he made to the team were for medical reasons, with Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna and Tomas Rosicky all set to return in the Champions League on Wednesday.

“It was vital to respond to the disappointing performance at Liverpool last week,” said Wenger. “I’m very pleased with the intensity, commitment and determination. You could feel a clinical desire in my team to take every opportunity to kill them.

“It was a fantastic FA Cup tie between two good teams. Many people questioned the FA Cup but today it delivered a great match.

“Liverpool are a very strong team. They had some chances but we had some very good chances as well. They were in a position where they had to take the initiative because they were 2-0 down. They had to throw absolutely everything forward and they are good enough to create chances against any team.

“But we were resilient, focused on defending well and overall they could have scored, but every time we won the ball we felt we always had a chance to score as well.”

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, on the other hand, wanted to declare it “case closed” last night despite the appalling decision by Howard Webb that cost his side a vital penalty.

“It was absolutely another penalty,”said Rodgers. “With the first one Luis gets clipped and it’s a clear penalty, but the second one was even clearer. Howard was in a great position. I’m not sure if it was because it was so quick after the first one. Young Alex could go nowhere, Luis gets a touch and goes beyond him so it’s a blatant penalty and we’re very disappointed not to get it.”

Olivier Giroud was also left on the bench after finally admitting he had invited a model to his team hotel room ahead of the Crystal Palace game having initially denied reports.

“I apologise to my wife, family and friends and my manager, team-mates and Arsenal fans,” he tweeted ahead of kick-off. “I now have to fight for my family and for my club and obtain their forgiveness. Nothing else matters at the moment.”

Wenger added afterwards: “He has made a statement. For the rest we will deal with it internally. I don’t think there is much more to add to that. I want to respect his privacy.”